


with a little motivation, i'll go far

by euphrasiepontmercy



Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Gen, Songfic, airports have the weirdest energy i swear, ricky montgomery is a genius
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28165749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/euphrasiepontmercy/pseuds/euphrasiepontmercy
Summary: the day after her college graduation is the day after her uncle's funeral, and zoey's cousin goes to her family as fast as she can, but there does happen to be some slight...complication during her travels. title and lyrics from california by ricky montgomery
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	with a little motivation, i'll go far

**Author's Note:**

> I just need to keep writing so I do. that's all. (this was written in A Day)

The day of her college graduation should have been one of the best of her life.

That is, if it hadn’t also been the day of her uncle’s funeral.

Any bit of hope that occurred upon seeing her classmates’ faces, taking photos, reminiscing and reflecting-it all ended up clouded with guilt.

_ How dare I allow happiness right now? _

She tried to silence those thoughts, but this only caused more guilt, and the day passed in a strange blur of emotion.

The very next day, Victoria Evelyn Clarke got on a plane. San Francisco was only a short flight away, and she spent the first half trying to think of what to say to her family.

_ I hope they don’t think I’m selfish. _

_ Am I being selfish even by worrying about what they’ll think of me? That shouldn’t matter at a time like this- _

She groaned- _ oh god, was that out loud? _ -and put in her earbuds, hitting shuffle on a random album in an attempt to interrupt the spinning of her mind. Her shoulders relaxed the second she heard Ricky Montgomery’s voice, and she laid back against her headrest, intent on trying to sleep.

Her restless dreams were intermingled with tiny dancers and hearts buried in Venice as she fell asleep to the album. She’d lost track of the length of the flight until they touched down, at which point the passengers lethargically made their way out of the plane.

The airport shops were bright and bustling, filled with as much merch that could possibly have an image of the Golden Gate Bridge slapped on it as possible. As she exited her gate, Victoria noticed that it was filled with people waiting to fly to Los Angeles, the city she’d just come from. Wide-eyed hopefuls not much younger than herself clutched their suitcases and nervously checked their boarding passes over and over, and she smiled at the sight.

The opening chords of one of her favorite songs on the album began, and she grinned with recognition, but something in the back of her mind reminded her that it had already played a few minutes ago.

_...It’s probably just a glitch in Spotify. _

The song, however, felt different somehow, more intense and vulnerable than she’d ever heard it. Something spurred in the depths of Victoria’s chest, and she suddenly felt compelled to... _ sing. _

_ “California! This evening I’ll be headed back for my shot at the family dream.” _

While surprised at how the words seemed to spring from her throat against her will, she had to acknowledge that they weren’t wrong. She had come here for her family, but she was also anxious to start trying to find her own dream; it was the start of something, and she was dangling off the edge.

_ “I am just a boy, but with a little bit of culture, I’ll go far.” _

Her head whipped around at the sound of an unfamiliar voice joining her in the song. A boy with a beanie pulled over his floppy curls had stood up from his chair, and he was talking on his phone, presumably to his own family.

_ “I want the world to know that I’m not just a photograph!” _

Her earbuds were still firmly in her ears-it wasn’t turned up very loud-in fact, changing the volume on her phone didn’t seem to affect it at all- _ what on earth is happening?!?! _

_ “Some way, someday you’ll know my name if I can let my ego have my face.” _

The boy gazed at the images of the Hollywood sign scattered all over the airport and moved with purpose to grab his guitar, hand in his boarding pass, and get on the plane as he sang the end of his verse.

_ “I’m not too good to say I love you, I love you.” _

_...Well, that was strange. _

As the instrumentals continued, Victoria wondered whether she was still dreaming;  _ maybe that strange airport state of mind caused some sort of hallucination… _

She turned to leave, shaken, and was met by an inhumanly stunning blonde girl surrounded by managers who followed her every move. Victoria knew she’d seen her face before, somewhere on social media, but she’d never been in this much pain.

_ “Why, oh, baby, must we always make love from the back?” _

As she was swarmed by people fixing her makeup and bombarding her with information, the girl seemed suffocated and pushed away, leaving them frozen in some sort of alternate reality when she stepped forward.

_ “My eyes are up here and my legs can move on.” _

She looked straight at Victoria, holding eye contact as if they’d known each other all their lives, and the ginger once again felt compelled to sing along with her.

_ “I am just a girl, but with a little motivation, I’ll go far.” _

As the instrumentals pounded and bopped, the two young women gained confidence and clutched each other’s hands in a moment of complete understanding as they belted out the lyrics.

_ “I want the world to know that I’m not just a piece of trash! Some way, someday you’ll know my name if I can let my ego have my face.” _

They danced wildly, and Victoria watched the girl’s face break into a real smile for what seemed to be the first time in a long time. The expectations melted off of her shoulders, and other passengers in the waiting area slowly started to join in.

_ “I’m not too good to say I love you, I love you!” _

By then, Victoria had decided simply to go with it, taking out her earbuds and watching in amazement as more and more people with hope and anguish in their faces joined in the song. She stepped into the center and sang the next few lyrics with her whole soul, feeling almost as if it was a call to action.

_ “I’ve been dyin’ since I learned it...art is dead, and artists killed it.” _

An electric guitar solo blasted in out of nowhere, and the airport lobby erupted into dance as Victoria looked on, astonished. She took the hand of anyone who offered theirs to her, allowing herself to be whirled in and out of the fray, making direct eye contact with every singer and trying to uncover  _ what exactly was happening. _ By the time that she knew more vocals were to come in, she had ended up on the outside of the whirling circle, facing a huge advertisement for the company she’d heard Zoey mention many a time.

_ “I am just a girl, but with a little revelation, I’ll go far.” _

Large yellow letters told passengers that SPRQpoint’s tech set off sparks in daily life, and the massive ad included aesthetically edited photos of its employees to try to prove its point. As the music slowed down, Victoria smiled at her cousin’s awkward expression-Zoey had never loved being in front of a camera-and looked around at the photos that surrounded her.

A confident-looking Black man with kind brown eyes. A woman with dark, wavy hair whose very essence carried a sense of being in charge, even from one photo. The recognizable profile of Max Richman, whom she’d known through a few community theatre productions, but whose photo seemed to be blurred out a bit. A man with a color-blocked sweater and a teasing glint in his eye. A pair of blue eyes, a scar below the eyebrow of one-

She was twirled around and found herself face-to-face with the young influencer, who was singing with her whole soul and encouraging Victoria to continue the number.

_ “I want the world to know that I’m not just a piece of ass! Some way, someday you’ll know my name-” _

_ “-if I can let my ego have my face.” _

She could have sworn that that last line had come from behind her, but when she turned around, the only thing that looked back at her was that photographed pair of self-assured blue eyes that seemed to hold more depth than was felt at the first glance.

_ “I’m not too good to say-” _

Knowing that the song was about to end (although it had skipped a bit, as if it wasn’t strange enough- _ really, what is this _ ), Victoria turned back to the airport of singers, performing the last line with an amused and honest frankness.

_ “I love you, I love you!” _

The last chord hung in the air for a few seconds as the passengers held their poses, and then everything seemed to drop back into reality. The hum of the airport picked back up, and people resumed their activities as if absolutely nothing had happened.

Victoria didn’t know how long she had stood and stared in utter disbelief, but when she turned to meet the wide eyes of her cousin’s photo, she knew one thing was clear.

“Zoey, this is absolutely-”

**Author's Note:**

> so yeah she can tell when people are singing directly to her-I JUST THINK THIS WOULD BE FUN OKAY. honestly I can see it all in my head, Mandy would do such a good job with this number, hope yall enjoyed!!


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